Congratulations! You Made the List!

By Rachel Armenta

When you bowed your knee to Jesus Christ and received him as Savior and Lord of your life, your name was put on a list.

A hit list. The devil’s hit list.

You are the greatest threat to Satan’s malicious scheme to drag every precious soul to hell.

Not only have you been set free from the chains that Satan once enslaved you in, but your testimony, your witness, your involvement in ministry and your devotion to living a set-apart life will see other invaluable lives snatched from sin and the grave.

The devil seethes with hatred and rage knowing that your life will ravage his kingdom. You must be stopped.

One of the cunning ways the devil tries to stop us is spelled out in the prophetic pages of Daniel. Daniel 7:25 says, “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High.”

If the devil can just take the fight out of us, he thinks we will shut up, back down and give in.

So he launches assaults on our health, finances, relationships and family. He distracts us with issues and problems.

I have discovered that these attacks usually come after making a positive decision for my salvation or for ministry.

My husband and I got involved in a ministry to which we devoted a huge portion of our time, energy and prayers, and instantaneously saw an increase in assaults against our lives.

I got sick and required antibiotics. But naturally, I fell into the .01% of the population that has an allergic reaction rather than a positive response. Muscle and tendon pain caused the doctor to prescribe new meds right about the time that I backed into the garage door.

Tucson then decided to compete with the Arctic in record cold, and our water pipe froze and burst.

I got sick again. Urgent care, ER and additional prescription bills were added to the growing pile of financial challenges.

Absolute exhaustion from late night hours at work and ministry just added to the stress on our relationship with each other and those around us.

Oh, and it wouldn’t be complete if something didn’t happen to the car. I didn’t even know a rack and pinion existed.

And this is a very small list compared to what other people are going through!

When we are tired, worn out and broken down, it’s easier for the deceiver to hiss in our ears that it’s because we’re saved and so involved in God’s work that all these things keep happening.

John 8:44 tells us that when the devil lies, “he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

In his smooth voice that sounds very much like our own, he croons: You know, it would all get easier if you just backed off on all that witnessing at work. Wouldn’t it be better on family time if you only came to church Sunday mornings? And I’m sure sleeping in those extra thirty minutes would help you so much more than getting up and praying.

But a devil exposed is a devil defeated.

When you begin to see this pattern after you’ve made a decision to impact the kingdom, there are several very important things to remember.

First and foremost, do not make any significant spiritual decision when you are worn down.

We are emotional creatures and in a time of weakness, we respond emotionally.

Keep doing what you know is right. Pray. Read your Bible. Be faithful to church. Witness and live a righteous life. This is not the time to back down; it’s the time to press in harder.

Come against the devil harder than you ever have!

Don’t cut off your life source of the preached Word and fellowship with others that will bring you through this.

Feelings lie. It may feel like going to church, prayer, revival, and ministry is causing more financial stress, more relationship stress, and more exhaustion, but that’s an emotional response to a temporary situation.

The good news is that it will not go on forever. When you push through, the devil in his snakelike personality must slither away.

Think about lives spread throughout history in the breadth of scripture. David wasn’t always on the run from King Saul. Job wasn’t attacked for the rest of his life by Satan. Abraham and Sarah weren’t always barren.

What’s even more encouraging is that in each of these people’s lives, there was greater fruitfulness and blessing when they reached the end of their worn-down period.

God promises in Psalms 30:5: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” There are not if, ands, or buts. Joy will come in the morning.

I Corinthians 10:13 says: “God is faithful; who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Temptation is anything, any circumstance, any problem or issue that would cause us to forsake our allegiance to God. Don’t sacrifice your relationship with God for something that will not last forever.

The Lord promises that what we are going through, we can withstand through His strength and in His arms.

Yes, you’ve made the devil’s hit list.

But when you repented from your sins and were born again, your name was written on a greater list. A list in a book. The Lamb’s Book of Life.

You are a child of the Almighty God, Creator of the Universe, Victorious Warrior.

He and His promises are bigger and stronger than anything the devil can throw your way.

You have to realize the devil is living on borrowed time.

The serpent’s head has been crushed by the feet of Jesus and the reason you are attacked is that the devil is absolutely terrified of you!

The devil is a worm and a coward. Isaiah tells us that when all things are revealed at the end of time we will look at the Gollum-like creature that the devil is, compared to the awesome glory of God and we’ll say, “Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble?” (Isaiah 14:16).

Martin Luther had the right idea when he said, “I often laugh at the devil, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack to his face, and tell him that through God I am more than a match for him.”

Look at your life and give God more glory than the devil for what is happening in it.

In spite of all the trouble that came upon us when we decided to serve the kingdom, God blessed us financially, He strengthened our marriage and brought us closer together, we saw new dynamics in friendships, and we saw God work in ways that only God could have worked.

Your life is going to be used in a very specific way for the glory of God.

The devil cannot see the future but he can see your potential and he wants you stopped.

Don’t give in. Don’t back down.

Resist the devil and he must flee. You are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you.